Month: May 2004

Grave of the Fireflies

In honor of Memorial Day, I decided to watch Grave of the Fireflies. This is an animated film about two kids who lose their mother and their home in a firebombing during World War II. I’ve had this DVD sitting on my shelf for about six months. I really hadn’t been in the mood to watch it until today. It’s a very sad, elegiac film. Aside from just giving you a different perspective on WW2 that you won’t usually see, it also makes you think about pride, responsibility, perseverance, and the difference between children and adults.

There are a lot of extras on a second disc that help put everything in perspective — an overview of the movie by Roger Ebert, an interview with the director, and a historical overview. There are a few interesting comments on the movie over at IMDB, although there are also a lot of bone-headed ones.

Bennington Dunkin Donuts

Cool! I just noticed that the first shift supervisor from the Bennington Dunkin Donuts left a comment in my guest book asking why I have a photo of their store on my web page. He left the message a couple of weeks ago, so I guess I must have accidentally trashed the e-mail notification on it or something.

For the curious: Back when I was in college, at RPI, it was a bit of a tradition in my fraternity to take pledges on little road trips, and Bennington was a common destination. Part of that tradition involved stopping at the nearest Dunkin Donuts, and having everyone involved sign a Dunkin Donuts napkin, as a little memento of the trip.

So, the photo is a little in-joke for any APO/EZ brothers visiting this page. Hope that satisfies anyone’s curiosity! Oh, and this page is the 17th hit if you search for Bennington VT Dunkin Donuts at Google.

Wizard World Philly

I went to Wizard World Philly yesterday. It was a pretty good con, but I’ve gotten so used to San Diego that nothing really compares. I bought some neat things, including a few of the Marvel Essentials volumes — Avengers 1 and 2, and Marvel Team-Up 1. I’ve been in a Silver Age mood lately. I also got a chance to see the first couple of episodes of Captain Herlock. This may be another anime series that I need to add to my want list, although I should really stop buying anime until I’ve watched all the stuff I’ve got already.